xv, 462 pages : 26 cm

"The stone circles of western Europe, some nearly 6000 years old, have intrigued viewers through the ages. This book about these megalithic rings explores their ancestry, methods of construction and eventual desertion. It offers new insights into the purpose of stone circles. It also provides a new interpretation of Stonehenge and of Callanish in Scotland, the first overview of the cromlechs in Brittany, a discussion of the problems of archeoastronomy as related to stone circles, and includes a greatly expanded gazetteer, and an up-to-date list of radiocarbon dates and recent excavations."--Jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 438-455) and index

Early work on stone circles -- The origins of stone circles -- The construction of a stone circle -- Function: calendars, cults and sex -- The earliest stone circles -- Sanctuaries and depots: rings with a difference -- The stone circles of Cumbria -- The stone circles of Northern Ireland and the Wicklows -- The stone circles of Western and South-Western England -- The stone circles of Wales -- The stone circles of Western and Northern Scotland -- The stone circles of North-Eastern Scotland -- The stone circles of the Republic of Ireland -- The stone circles of Eastern Britain: from Fife to Oxfordshire -- The stone circles of Wessex -- The megalithic enclosures of Brittany -- Stonehenge

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